Case Number 24894

LEGENDARY AMAZONS (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

Girl power.

Opening Statement

From producer Jackie Chan, a movie that is not the type of movie you're
probably expecting.

Facts of the Case

During the Song Dynasty, violence is the norm and no one know this terrible
truth more than the hapless Yang Clan. All the Yang men are summarily wiped out
in a massive battle against the corrupt ruler and his dark forces, prompting the
remaining women to suit up and get nasty.

Each Legendary Amazon boasts a special skill, be it immense strength
wielding dual hammers or a flawless range shooting with the "divine bow." They
will have to call upon all these powers, when the heat is turned up and the
battle cries beckon.

The Evidence

According to the back of the disc case, Legendary Amazons is based on
a true story. These recent Chinese historical epics -- of which there seem to be
a never-ending deluge -- play it fairly straight, opting to buttress the
politics and character exchanges with sprawling battle scenes that are grounded
in reality. Sure, once in a while we'll get a film that springs its warriors off
of vaults and suspends them with wires, but Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon these pictures aren't.

Which is why I was genuinely surprised by how much Legendary Amazons
embraced the wire-fu fantasy elements. From the start, this film went more comic
book than history book, opening with a massive castle siege sequence, littered
by dodgy CGI-powered rocks being catapulted at the walls, culminating in a big
fight scene with full-on wire-supported pugilism. From there it's off to the
introduction of our superheroines, a sequence which sports a video game vibe,
reeling off their names in catchy fonts and outlining their various powers. It's
all hyper-stylized, full of slow-mo action and bubblegum color schemes, an
indicator of what's to come.

Make no mistake, there's plenty of action to be found in Legendary
Amazons, but if you're looking for something down and dirty or even
relatively rooted in real world physics, you'll come away sorely disappointed.
When the massive battle sequences arrive, dudes (well, dudettes really) are
flying around as if they're equipped with jet packs. The choreography is
fantastically frantic, the focus being on eye candy and wire-assisted
stunt-work, versus actual violence-fueled suspense.

Fans of Chinese history will be able to glean some education through the
mayhem, but Legendary Amazons is primarily an action film. Normally, I'd
be on board with this history-to-bad-ass-kung-fu ratio, but the martial artistry
is so detached from reality I never felt plugged in. Again, I'm prejudiced
against this crap, so if wire-fu or the sight of strong women sailing through
the air and punching fools is your bag, there may be value here for you.

The good news is your ears and eyeballs will enjoy Well Go USA's Blu-ray
treatment. Video flows through a 2.35:1/1080p HD transfer that looks so good it
makes the CGI look so bad. The pull-back sweeping shots falter under the
scrutiny of boosted resolution, but the tighter looks at ornate costuming and
gaudy production design provide tasty visual treats. The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
tracks (in original Mandarin and English dub) suitably transmit the frenetic
battles, while pumping out a forgettably generic epic score. One bonus feature:
an hour-long making-of documentary.